VATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI granted his former butler a Christmas pardon during a jailhouse meeting Saturday, forgiving him in person for stealing and leaking private papal papers, in one of the gravest Vatican security breaches in recent times.

After the 15-minute meeting, Paolo Gabriele was freed and returned to his Vatican City apartment where he lives with his wife and three children. The Vatican said he could not continue living or working in the Vatican, but said it would find him housing and a job elsewhere soon. ‘‘This is a paternal gesture toward someone with whom the pope for many years shared daily life,’’ said a statement from the Vatican secretariat of state.